Download So What? - Turfgrass Information Center

A Fugitive Discipline & Literature:
Finding Turfgrass Science
Pete Cookingham
Michigan State University Libraries
NRIC 2007 -- Las Vegas – 4 August 2007
I hope to introduce:
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Who cares & why – ie. Does it matter?
What turf is
Who’s involved
Why me
Why you
So What?
• Land coverage -- sheer amount of turf
Extent of Turfgrass Cover USA
(Milesi, 2005)
So What?
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Land coverage -- sheer amount of turf
Participation -- sheer number of ‘doers’
Water use -- turf in Las Vegas?
CO emissions -- mowers, etc.
Pesticide use – what/where/when/who
Fertilizer use – what/where/when/who
Public policy -- who decides?
Turf Benefits
(further to Beard and Green, 1994)
• Erosion control, dust stabilization, & soil building
capacity, including remediation
• Groundwater recharge & runoff buffering
• Heat dissipation, noise abatement, glare reduction,
fire-resistance, road and airfield safety
• Habitat & green space
• Recreational use: Soccer, golf, cricket, softball,
bocci, football, baseball, hurling, etc.
• Aesthetic: Visual comfort
Industry Sectors & Maintenance Intensity
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Utility turf
Roadsides/Airfields
Cemeteries
Landscapes/home lawns/parks &
grounds
• Golf course fairways/Sports turf/Sod
production/Seed production
• Golf course greens
Hopefully of interest……….
• Cooperative/consortium project: sector &
geographic independence
• Technology-based delivery to end-users
since day one
• A very grey literature, and poorly
collected
• We seek ‘Exhaustive Bibliographic
Control’: an archaic concept?
This one gets personal………
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Your yard
Your condo
Your campus
Your school district
Your local park facilities
The Super Bowl, The World Cup, The
World Series, and the White House
Mission of the Turfgrass Information Center (TIC)
• Collect, digitize, & preserve turfgrass materials,
both print & online
• Provide precise access to turf information
resources, including the above
• Assist users of the materials & access
• Provide physical and online infrastructure
supporting turfgrass scholarship
• Build a stable long-term structure to continue this
work
TIC Online Presence
• Public website & public resources
Digitized serial runs
Digitized monographs
Digitized graphic & visual content
• Turfgrass Information File (TGIF) database
– All formats, all languages, all turf, “all content”,
Turfgrass Thesaurus indexing: moving towards a
disciplinary ‘info base’
• Limited access resources
– Digitized serial runs
– Beard’s Turfgrass Encyclopedia – full text
Turf trends…..
• Turf has always been local– it will be even
more so in the future:
• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes
Turf trends…..
• Turf has always been local– it will be even
more so in the future:
• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes
• Water use
Turf trends…..
• Turf has always been local– it will be even
more so in the future:
• local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes
• Water use
• GMOs & NIMBY
Turf trends…..
• Turf has always been local– it will be even
more so in the future:
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local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes
Water use
GMOs & NIMBY
Did I say water?
Turf trends…..
• Turf has always been local– it will be even
more so in the future:
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local legislative initiatives – the irony of extremes
Water use
GMOs & NIMBY
Did I say water?
• Breeding & genetics; because…
Can you breed this grass?
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Low, slow, aggressive growth habit
Drought and salt tolerant
Stays green(ish)
Pest & disease resistant
High seed producer
Fineleaf
Great name
Why was I here?
• Turf is important to you as a NR
information professional – even if you
really aren’t interested!
• Your institutions/organizations need to be
involved, and we need you, too!
• And, if nothing else, please be sure to add
our full-text hosted, public resources to your
electronic serials lists – they’re free!
thank you!
email if you have any questions about TIC or
TGIF!
Pete Cookingham
[email protected]
tic.msu.edu